The Car Connection Expert Review

Few vehicles are both
loved and despised as much as the minivan. As models of how to move passengers
and cargo safely, comfortably, and economically, they’ve found a loyal base of
buyers. But they’re also hated — including by some of those same loyal buyers —
for being just short of anonymous. Despite how several automakers have allowed
their minivan models to slide out of the limelight, minivans are still a very
significant chunk of the new-vehicle market, with still more than a million sold
per year in theU.S.

The
Kia Sedona was originally introduced for the
U.S. market for
2002, with a design that was successful for its impressive value even if it
wasn’t quite up to the standards of refinement, packaging, and performance of
top-sellers like the Honda Odyssey, Chrysler minivans, and the Toyota Sienna.
Kia isn’t settling for good enough, though, as it’s already introducing a
completely new design for the Sedona for ’06.

With a
quick look at the outgoing Sedona’s specs, it’s easy to see why it wasn’t quite
competitive performance-wise — it was a heavyweight, at over 4800 pounds, and so
its otherwise generous 195 horsepower was only adequate. To start, the new
Sedona was designed with weight savings as one of the priorities, and engineers
managed to shed more than 400 pounds despite larger dimensions and increased
standard equipment.